Adam
Thurston Adams 'Background, Personality, & Philosophy' Adam was born in the village of Theddleval in the grasslands southwest of Mournwood Forest, to William and Moira Adams. His given name is Thurston, named after one of his ancestors who helped found the village a several generations ago. However, he always felt that name was a little too hoity toity and prefers to just go by Adam. Theddleval was founded when The Great Thaw was just beginning, so the first settlers had a difficult time keeping the people safe and warm. As a result, the entire village developed a philosophy of the good of the whole being more important than personal wealth or gain. Although things are easier now, this is still the basis of the village, so Adam grew up with a generous and pragmatic personality. Because the elders tend to encourage unique solutions to new problems, Adam also gained a certain penchant for both thinking on his feet and careful pre-planning. 'Appearance' Adam is a Neutral Good Ranger. He is in his late teens, 5'10", slight-yet-tonned build. Although he used to keep his dirty-blonde hair and beard trimmed and neat, he's recently taken to letting it grow out as it may. 'Finding the Guild' Theddleval views marriage as largely being an agreement between two people to work together and pool their talents, with childbirth being seen as a culmination of those efforts. The entire village only interveins if a specific request for it is made or if there's a larger problem...as was the case with Meryll. One day, the 11-year-old girl was found weeping outside her parents' buring cottage, with the two of them already dead inside. When asked what happened, she showed how certain movements of her hands could create sparks, these landed on the house and it caught fire. Although the occasional traveling magician had been known to visit the town, no one with arcane magical talents had ever been produced in the entire history of the village. The elders, who were now charged with Meryll's care, decided the best thing to would be to send expeditions out to try and find a training manual or teacher to help Meryll, lest her unchecked power destroy the entire village. Adam and his father, who had trained him to be a good bowman, were among those selected to venture forth on this quest. When they stopped at a small inn near the edge of Mournwood Forest, William saw a posting for the Illuminators' Guild and suggested that Adam go there and see if they might hold some appropriate knowledge. Although various things have happened and Adam's pragmatism got in the way, his eventual goal is still to find this information and return home. 'Religion' Theddleval's view on the world is almost entirely based on what can be seen and displayed. As a result, while there's no direct opposition to relegion, it's generally believed that the gods, if they ever truly existed at all, died off before or during The Great Freeze. As a result, Adam never put much stock in religion and thought that anyone who claimed to be calling on gods' power was simply assigning a new name to the power of nature (which he'd seen plenty of from Druids and Rangers from his hometown). However, his travels have shown him many things and he is now almost a complete 180 from where he was. When he helped liberate a church of the Overdiety, he thought it interesting, but still didn't see enough direct evidence to make him believe that the diety actually existed. When his group was granted the Tear of Ra by Amun-Ra himself, he saw it as undeniable proof that the diety was real, alive, and manifest, and began worshipping him. When he entered the Cave of Rebirth, he came face-to-face with Hel and could (obviously) not deny her existence. It did not matter to him that she was a (supposedly) evil diety; he saw nothing evil in her actions and saw that she, too, was a living god worthy of worship. At the end of the Ritual of Rebirth, when he found out that he was the reincarnation of Balder, and one of his companions the reincarnation of Uller, it occured to Adam that, even if some of the gods had died, there was still hope that they would return. Feeling his own increase of power and knowledge from the Ritual, he knew that this was not "in-name-only", but an actual return of (at least a part of) a god to the land of the living. Therefore, Adam now has a belief which may be unique in the world: a devotion not to any diety in particular, but to dieties in general. If he knows the name of a diety, and knows what they generally associate themselves with (i.e. - what thier portfolio is), then he will pray to them for assistance and guidance when it is appropriate to do so. It makes no matter to him if the diety is good, evil, or neutral; if the diety would have power to assist in a specific endeavor, he shall still ask for it.